Current integrated circuits are often formed with many complex and costly fabrications steps. Patterning steps are particularly costly. In addition to transistors, metal-to-metal capacitors and metal resistors are common devices in semiconductor integrated circuits. Some metal capacitors such as interdigitated metal finger capacitors may be formed without extra patterning steps, but most metal to metal capacitors such as a lower metal plate to an upper metal plate capacitor requires at least two and often three additional patterning steps.
Metal resistors are typically formed in the integrated circuit using additional steps such as deposition of the metallic resistor material plus resistor patterning and etching steps. A reduction in the number of processing steps, particularly patterning steps, is desired.